The 61-year-old actress was devastated as a teenager when she heard her actor dad John Huston say he thought she would grow up to be ''plain'' and his remark made her feel very insecure about her appearance.

She said: ''I was not at my happiest in my late teens. I went from confident and secure to shy and insecure and back again.

''I wish I could have been more accepting of myself. I had once overheard my father saying, when I was about 15 or 16, that I might turn out to be plain. That was a particularly unattractive moment for me.

''My nose was growing and my chin was receding, by comparison, and no one knew more than me how plain I felt.''

Anjelica - whose mother Enrica died when she was 18 - also admitted that working with her father on one of her first movies was such a bad experience, it put her off acting for many years.

She told The Sun newspaper: ''I made a big mistake at 18. I appeared in my father's movie, 'A Walk With Love and Death'. It was a personal disaster for both of us.

''I don't think we said more than 10 words to each other during the making of the film. I was reluctant and he was parental.

''The whole experience turned me off acting for about the next 10 years. I didn't go near another film set.

''My father really gave me the part as a present and I didn't identify with it. I didn't know what I was doing and I wish I'd been better prepared.''